Going international. The influence of Gy11 on the representation of the English-speaking world in Swedish Upper Secondary textbooks

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate how the English-speaking world is based on the argument that English is a "global language" and should therefore be represented accordingly in teaching materials. Four textbooks from two different publishers were selected in order to provide a representative sample of the market. Both the foreword and the main texts in the chosen textbooks were studied and the results were analyzed in relation to the aim stated for the English subject in the corresponding steering documents. The results show that the textbook authors acknowledge the change made in the steering documents regarding the status of English. However, the native-speaking model remains the target variety since the vast majority of the texts were written by authors belonging to the so-called "Inner Circle" and set in "Inner Circle" contexts. The representation of the English-speaking world as such reinforces the idea of native-speakers as the only model and can thus be questioned. As most learners of English in Sweden will be using English for cross-cultural communication, both in Sweden and abroad, it is imperative that the textbooks cater to a wider variety of "Englishes". The textbooks "Blueprint 2.0" and "Context 1" could be used n the teaching of English as a global language on the premise that teachers supplement their courses with materials from other contexts.